Christ Church

Christ Church is the gate way to the South Pole. This statue remembers Robert Falcon Scott the early antarctic explorer from England. Seeing the Antarctica has always been a dream of Lynn's but this is as close as I'll go.

Anna and I have a love of the hydrangea flower which is abundantely blooming here in pinks, purples, and blues. They remind us of my grandmother the late Mae Needham and of Pappa who both love them as well.

The botanical garden was a huge highlight of the city.

Christ Church has a trolly system as well as punting (Men pushing boats with long canes) on the Avon River. Both add to the charm of this city.

The city boasts beautiful stone architecture which adds an old world feel.

The Cathedral below and in the background above is a city centre (English spelling used here) piece.

The first full day in Christ Church was spent on a train ride 5 hours over a mountain range through Arthur's pass and back another 5 hours in the same day. We ran into Gene Baillie from Anderson Pathology. Amazing!It was a long day but the views were amazing and a lot of fun (like this photo of Uno) in the cabin car.

This view was of the front of the train from the observation deck.

Below is a gorge we passed along the way.

The big sky views were stunning like this cloud shrouded mountain below.

The boys took photos from the observation deck below.

Some of the mountains were high enough to still have snow in summer like the ones in the distance.

On Thursday we said "Goodbye" to Cheryl and headed out for a trip in a camper van. More on that later.